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Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Friday, the Hungry Cat-erpillar

Friday the kitten has been getting himself in trouble. His mischief first came to light last Friday, when the N-boy realized that we didn't have internet. We'd had quite a few thunderstorms that day, and so we hoped that may be the problem. The N-boy put in a call to the internet company, who talked him through re-booting the router and all of the normal computer things. No go. So they said they'd send someone out to the apartment on Monday morning. We were fine over the weekend, piggybacking onto someone's wireless network.

Monday morning, the N-boy stays home and waits for the internet rescuer to arrive. He arrives and checks all of the things in the apartment. He is confused. We still have full power (or whatever full internet-ness is called) and our modem/router thingy is working just fine. Then he looks at the cord connecting the modem/router thingy to the phone jack.......Apparently Friday-the hungry kitten- has been chewing on the cord and finally cut through the wires! We knew that he liked to gnaw on things-this is why we provide him with a large collection of cardboard boxes and a ginormous cat stand with lots of dangling ropes and mousies to chew on. Apparently that was not enough. The Internet Rescuer gives the N-boy a new cord and says he wishes all of his jobs were that easy. Following his departure, the N-boy starts to look around the apartment at the rest of the cords.

This was not restricted to the internet cord, but had spread to almost every single power cord in the apartment! Some were more damaged than others, but almost every single one had evidence of little teeth marks. The N-boy calls me at work: "Houston, we have a problem." Friday could have been seriously hurt or electrocuted, he could have started on fire, he could have started the apartment on fire, and he ruined several perfectly good cords. The N-boy calls the vets office, I start doing research online for possible solutions. After work we go out and get cable ties to corral some of the cords (like behind the TV) and bitter apple spray, which is recommended for spraying on the cords to deter pets from chewing. It's safe for them, but very unpleasant tasting (and unpleasant smelling!) We replaced the cords that were dangerously damaged and set up the cat grass chia pet to provide something else for him (and CatCat) to nibble on. CatCat has never chewed on cords (as far as we can tell), but we don't want her to start!

So far, we think it's working. We have our suspicions that Friday tried to nibble on something, as there was a small puddle of kitten vomit, which can be a result of attempted chewing on the bitter apple coated cord. We hate that it made him throw up, but this was such a serious health and safety issue that we felt we had to take such actions. We'll keep on eye on both the cat and the cords, but hope we have solved the problem. At least until Friday finds some other mischief to cause.The Culprit

2 comments:

YOur Kitty looks very guilty. :) We have had that problem before, except a it was a rabbit that chewed threw the cord, and the rabbit didn't fare so well again electricity. oops. :) Thanks for stopping by and linking! -Allison